Monster by Walter Dean Myers

Myers, W. D., & Myers, C. (1999). Monster. New York, NY: HarperCollins .

Imagine this : You're just a teenager, sweat running down your face as you lie alone in your cot in prison.  You know you're not guilty, you know you're not guilty, but somehow the way your defense lawyer looks at you, you know it is not going to be easy to convince a jury of your peers.  What do you do?

Steve is a young man in prison, awaiting his trial where he will find out if he must face 25 years to life in prison for a murder he didn't commit.  This novel is written in a play-like manner to represent Steve Harmon's love for film, and ultimately what can help decide if the teen is guilty or not guilty.  

This novel takes you into the heart of Harlem, where we examine the day of how four different men were have said to been involved in what was supposed to be a robbery of a convenience store.  With a turn of events, the shop owner ends up being shot and bleeds out at the scene.  Who will be charged?  Will Steve Harmon release his rights as a free man and hear the "guilty as charged" verdict?

This book would be recommended for a 5th grade classroom or above since the writing is typically simple, but more adult concepts to comprehend. 

This story is great since students hear on the news quite frequently about crimes being committed locally.  The understanding of the justice system might be a bit more vague to a student, and this book has a great taste of what it would be like to be inside of one.   The main character is a young man, with a diary, where students can get into the mind of what it would be like to be young and in trouble.  There are no stereotypes being portrayed, and theres an accurate description of the setting that is being used throughout the novel.  The language used throughout is very believable as to what young men would be using at that time an place, so students would really be able to grasp the whole picture of what's going on in Steve Harmon's mind. 

What's inside?

Theme:

Justice
Harlem
Crime
Film
Trials
High School
Adolescence 

Foreshadowing:
Steve Harmon is watching his mother's face as she studies him at a visit right before his trial and he wonders what she is seeing. 

Does she see a monster?

Later on in the novel, right after he is given his verdict, his defense attorney stares at him with the same intent and he wonders what she is seeing inside of him. 

5 years later he still felt the same way.

Am I a monster?

Motif:
This is a reoccurring theme or concept which I saw to be the journal that Steve Harmon kept.  This was the only place that he was able to truly be himself and to escape prison and trial life.  This was his raw emotion and feeling while going through what he was during that difficult time. 

How do we teach this?
Have your students pick a side, guilt or not guilty.  Then have them write up a speech, or even a script of what they would say at Steve Harmon's hearing.  Have them use textual evidence of specific points in the book that proves Steve's guilt or innocence.